Why would I need to do this? Well, the drivetrain is basically the motor of your bike; it is comprised of the front cog(s), chain, derailleur and rear cog(s). Having a clean and well maintained drivetrain will not only increase the longevity of your components but also make shifting gears a whole lot smoother. Drivetrain maintenance is a rather simple process that every biker should know how to do. The whole process takes less than fifteen minutes, and is incredibly important. You know that black grime on your gears? Well, it's not supposed to be there! You should always clean and lubricate your drivetrain long before the grime forms. Black grime means that your chain and cogs are being ground down to dust. Cleaning and maintaining the drivetrain will not only get rid of the black grime, but help keep the bike in tip top shape. Here's what you'll need to get the job done: • Bike specific degreaser.• Brushes (bike specific is best, but an old toothbrush works just fine).• Bike specific chain lubricant.• Bike specific cleaner.• Rags for cleaning up grease.• A bucket of water or a hose.• A proper bike stand will make your life a lot easier, but isn't essential. Before you get to cleaning the nitty gritty details of the drivetrain, give the bike a once over with water to get any dirt off. You don't want huge chunks of dirt falling off the tire and landing on your newly cleaned and greased components. The entire cleaning process will be a lot easier if your rear wheel is off the ground and can spin freely. This is where the bike stand comes in hand, but if you don't have one, MacGyver a safe way to keep the rear wheel elevated during cleaning. And by MacGyver the wheel, we mean grow an epic mullet and use paper clips to solve all your problems. Once your bike is free of dirt and the rear wheel is elevated, follow these simple steps: • Grab the chain while using a rag like a glove. Spin a few backward revolutions of the pedal until a good deal of the built up grease on the chain has been removed.• Spray or brush the bike specific degreaser onto the chain, rear cogs and derailleur, but be careful not to degrease any cables.• Use a brush with stiff bristles to scrub the chain, cogs and anything dirty.• Once you have removed all nasty old grease and grime, wash the area with bike cleaner and rinse it off.• Scrub amongst the cogs on the rear cassette. We recommend using a Park Tools brush because it's the perfect shape and those nooks/crannies are hard to get to. It might also help to remove the wheel for this step.• Wash the cassette again with bike cleaner. This seems like overkill, but a clean cassette will shift so much better if it's super clean.• Put the wheel and chain back on...if you took them off to clean in the hard to reach places that is. The spotless drivetrain on a Fuji Absolute 1.1D. Now the drivetrain should be squeaky clean. And it will stay squeaky--but not in the good way--if you don't re-apply some lubricant to the situation. But when applying lube to the drivetrain, too much might even be worse than none at all. Excess lubricant will attract dirt and grime so fast that you'll have to redo the whole process sooner than you'd like. Now that you're back on top of the situation you can decide which type of lubricant your bike needs. For example, if you're riding in the rainy Pacific forests, you might want to look into some lube that's specially formulated to stand up to the wet conditions. On the flip side, if you're riding in particularly dusty conditions, there is a lube for that too. Tri-Flow is a great lubricant, but there are more specific products out there. Once you've found the right lube for your environment, apply it as follows:• Only apply bike specific lubricant to a clean chain. Putting lube onto a dirty chain will create a nasty paste that will grind your chain down. No bueno.• Apply a small drop of your preferred lube to each link.• Once each link has been tended to, cycle the chain through its rotation for half a minute or so to make sure it works its way into the nooks and crannies.• Wipe any excess lube off the chain and cogs. Like we said previously, too much is a bad thing.• Go through each link in the chain one more time, and repeat the last two steps.• Give the derailleur some love too. Apply a drop of lubricant to the springs to make sure they stay limber. Any bike specific lubricant will work, but for best results, use an environment specific lube. And there you have it! That might seem like a lot of work, but trust us, keeping the drivetrain maintained will make a world of difference. Your components will last longer and work better. And if you want to make things even easier on yourself, get a Park Tools Chain Gang cleaning system. It's a spiffy little product designed to clean the bejesus out of your chain. The above processes are like cleaning your car in the driveway, but this thing is like going to a fully automated car wash. Whichever route you take is up to you, but no matter your decision, make sure you do this often and thoroughly. We'll leave you with a parting shot of some essential tools. Chain cleaner is a must and the Park Tools Chain Gang cleaning system is awesome.If you need more instruction, or would like to learn first hand from a professional, we host several bike clinics throughout the year! Check here for a schedule of up and coming bike clinics. Or if you'd rather just have the professionals do this for you, we offer several bike tune options and even have a lifetime service plan if you never want to deal with bike maintenance again!
